1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to software, advertising systems, and mobile devices. More specifically, it relates to software for displaying an online ad on a mobile device delivered via a software application and displayed outside the confines of the application as displayed on the mobile device screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, when software developers developing mobile software applications (hereafter “apps”) that run on mobile devices want to display ads, they face one significant restriction: they can generally only display ads within the confines of the app itself as shown on the device. Because of the limited screen size of many mobile devices, this constraint increases clutter within the apps from the perspective of the user, causing user discontent and forcing ads to be displayed in small and confined areas of the app. This, in turn, decreases the quality and appeal of this form of mobile advertising in the eyes of advertisers, thereby driving down the value of such advertising and negatively impacting revenues earned by app developers. Furthermore, revenues earned by app developers are limited because ads are no longer seen by users once the apps are closed on the device.
To illustrate the problem of displaying mobile ads through an app on a mobile device, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile device screen. An app executes on a mobile device, for example a smart phone or tablet, having a screen 102. The app is displayed in primary screen area 104. Ads delivered to the device via the app are displayed in secondary screen area 106, often confined to a narrow area at the bottom of the screen or along one of the sides. As illustrated in FIG. 1, there is often not much display surface area to effectively deliver ads.
Other mobile ad delivery systems in use attempt to improve engagement with users, appeal to advertisers, and increase revenues to app developers by displaying longer, larger, and invasive ads, such as full-screen and video ads within the apps. These types of ads take up the entire display area of the app such that the user only sees (or mostly sees) only the ad at some point when using the app. For example, an ad may take up the entire primary screen area 104 in FIG. 1.
Present methods for addressing the issue of ineffective ads that clutter mobile apps focus on increasing user engagement with those ads which, in turn, appeals to advertisers, thereby increasing revenues to mobile app developers. One way this is presently done is by displaying more invasive ads, such as ads that occupy the entire screen or distracting video ads within mobile apps. These methods, however, only further increase clutter within mobile apps, tend to increase user frustration, and push users away from generally accepting ads in mobile apps by making the apps appear too ad-intensive or ad-centric.
In light of these drawbacks with regard to current mobile app ad delivery techniques, it would be desirable to be able to display ads in a manner that is non-intrusive, engaging, and visible and are seen as beneficial to all entities involved in the process.